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04.01.03 - THE STAGE review of Joseph Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Liverpool Bill Kenwright presents and directs Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph in an all new show filled with humour and fresh business - such as inflatable sheep rising out of the hillside and Joseph appearing as an angel after his 'death' gesturing that he is still here. Stephen Gately, previously of Boyzone, in his stage debut has a vocal strength and range to play brash young Joseph on the brink of manhood. Gately is a big star with charm and appeal. On either side of the stage the split choir is from the Elliott-Clark School Liverpool. Vivienne Carlyle moves through the action as the Narrator, surrounded by Jacob's leaping sons who perform the musical numbers with unbelievable energy. James Head's Jacob fills the role of patriarch with quiet pride, also doubling as the jealous Potiphar. Faye Michel gets the chance for some sassy high kicks as Potiphar's wife while Trevor Jary's Pharaoh wildly gyrates as an Elvis lookalike. David Steadman as musical director proceeds through the varying tempos of the songs and choreographer Henry Metcalfe knows how to keep a vigorous cast perpetually on the hoof. Designer Sean Cavanagh creates the curtain depicting the story of Joseph, the lavish costumes and the gilded scenery in a bedazzling experience. Director Kenwright brings the whole show together in a stupendous spectacular explosion. Gately as Joseph finally rises up from the stage surrounded by an immense circular cloak in segments of rainbow colours. By Marjorie Bates Murphy ©copyright The Stage 2003 |
ICLiverpool Online Lasting appeal of a musical classic Jan 2 2003 By Philip Key, Daily Post THE musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has changed a lot since it first went on stage nearly 35 years ago. Then young composer Andrew Lloyd Webber had been asked to write something for an end-of-term concert at Colet Court Boys School in London. Together with new-found friend and lyricist Tim Rice, he created a sort of pop cantata telling the story of the Biblical Joseph. With a lot of different musical styles, the show ran for just 20 minutes. One of the boys' parents who saw it that March night in 1968 was former Daily Post journalist Derek Jewell, then writing for the Sunday Times. He decided to write a review, a favourable one. It was encouragement enough for the writing duo who expanded it and found it being presented everywhere from St Paul's Cathedral and the Edinburgh Festival to the Haymarket Ice Rink. Eventually the show opened in 1973 in London's West End and ran for 243 performances. Five years later, Liverpool impresario Bill Kenwright took over the show, improved its style no end and toured it up and down the country. He lost the show for a time when Lloyd Webber decided to stage his own version at the London Palladium featuring Jason Donovan and later Philip Schofield. But eventually Kenwright was able to welcome the musical back into his theatrical stable and for a show that has undergone so many changes, he has now given it another makeover. The result is on display at Liverpool's Empire Theatre where Boyzone singer Stephen Gately has taken over the title role. There have been several changes including the look of the musical. But it does boast at least one constant from previous Kenwright productions - Scottish singer Vivienne Carlyle is back in the role of narrator. The perky brunette even wears a similar costume to last time, black trousers, a waistcoat adorned with suns and moons and a white shirt. At least that's what she was wearing when I saw the show but there is talk that this outfit too may get a makeover along with the rest of the musical. Whatever happens, Vivienne is pleased to be back. It just happens to be one of her favourite shows. As with many theatre people, the showbusiness life was the one she always hankered after. "I always wanted to go into thea-tre," she says. "But it was something I never thought would come to fruition. In the end, I just kind of fell into it." Back home in Glasgow, her parents were not exactly discouraging but they did suggest she get a degree "just in case" and then she could make up her mind. So she went to Strathclyde University and graduated with a BA degree in Community Arts. "I had developed skills in working in communities with young and old and those with special needs." It was useful when she joined Scottish Opera, not to sing, surprisingly enough, but to tour around schools teaching others to sing. "I wasn't performing myself, it was more theatre in education." Eventually she did get on stage - in pantomime. It was Babes in the Wood at the King's Theatre, Glasgow, and she played Maid Marion opposite Cannon and Ball. "It was a good place to start because if you can do pantomime you can do anything. It may be light and frothy and things like that and very tiring over Christmas with two shows, sometimes three a day. "But it teaches you discipline and how to pace yourself. "Mind you, I wasn't happy with my dress as Maid Marion. They gave me this dress in an insipid yellow colour and against my white skin, I looked awful. It wasn't my favourite. "Personally, I am not a fan of pantomime. I don't criticise it but it just does not inspire as much as some-thing like Joseph." Fan or not, she went on to do others including Aladdin and Mother Goose in different Scottish venues. "I've done four now and I am happy to leave it at that," she says. "But if the price was right, I would probably think about it again!" As it was she was making a nice living as a session singer and on stage backing others like Michael Bolton and Dina Carroll. "We performed at the Scottish Exhibition Centre which seats around 12,000. The atmosphere was unlike anything I had known before and I absolutely loved it." The performance would be repeated at the equally vast Birmingham National Exhibition Centre. There have been disappointments along the way, including a new musical show titled Shehallion. "It was an original Scottish show with music by a guy named Douglas White. They said it was going to be a Scottish equivalent of Riverdance. "The music was absolutely beautiful and I would come on in a long black dress and sing eight-part harmony. It had a very Celtic feel. It was very pretty with pretty music." It ran for around a month in Glasgow but after that nothing happened. There was a recording but no further productions. "It just didn't take off," says Vivienne. "That was all about four years ago and whether they will do anything with it now I don't know." SHE has been in Joseph "on and off" for close on a couple of years, touring with Kenwright's last production before taking a break and returning for this new-look version. "It's quite new." she says. "There are new elements, new musical arrangements, different instruments in the band and the set is very different. We have also taken a slightly different approach to some of it." The musical itself, of course, remains the same with the same happy-go-lucky songs like One More Angel in Heaven and Those Canaan Days alongside ballads like Close Every Door and the hit parade success Any Dream Will Do. Vivienne loves her role, one incidentally initially written for a male. "There are very few female parts like this in theatre and musicals," she explains. "I am on stage the whole time and some people think that is quite hard but I find it easier than it is for those who are only sporadically on stage - I get the whole flow of the story and get involved in it." She thinks it is good that the narrator role is now generally taken by a female. "It balances things out as there are so many men in the show. That little bit of femininity is quite a good thing." With a long-term future planned for the production, rehearsals have continued even past opening night with director/producer Kenwright shuttling between London and Liverpool. It is, as they say, getting better every day. At present, the immediate future of the production after it closes at the Empire on January 11 is unclear. "Apparently we are going into the West End but we are waiting for confirmation about that," says Vivienne. Could it tour before London? "None of us know, there's a big question mark." What she does know is that the musical is still working its charm on Liverpool audiences, "It's a magical show, the songs are great and the show is timeless," she says. "It appeals to all ages and there is some-thing in it for everyone." © owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2003 icLiverpoolTM is a trade mark of Trinity Mirror Plc. |
